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Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
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Author:  french829 [ Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
One of our neighbors that we regularly boat with always "pre-chills" his cooler by putting a bag of ice in it several days before a trip. We are getting ready for a week long trip this Saturday and he already has begun the process. Has anyone on here ever heard of this? Seems that ice chills things down pretty quick. My neighbor claims his ice lasts longer if he pre-chills.

What do you think?

Anyone else have some interesting tips like this to pass along? We freeze our bottled water and use them in the food cooler so our food doesn't get wet from melting ice.
Author:  firecadet613 [ Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
I haven't heard of that, although good timing. I just tonight drilled a few small holes in the bottom of my coolers lid, and put some of the spray expansion foam in there. In both my coolers its hollow...so I'm expecting it to help keep it insulated better.
Author:  95fxdl [ Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
I do notice the ice in my cooler melts easy. Good thread, anxious to see how experienced boaters deal with this issue, Dennis
Author:  SeaBoo [ Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
firecadet613 wrote:
I haven't heard of that, although good timing. I just tonight drilled a few small holes in the bottom of my coolers lid, and put some of the spray expansion foam in there. In both my coolers its hollow...so I'm expecting it to help keep it insulated better.


And here I thought I was the only one that did this......

I know if you have a 5 day (or Coleman xtreame) or alot of higher dollar marine coolers (that are also 5 day coolers) the ONLY way they work is to pre chill. Marine coolers are white (reflect heat, not absorb it) and that makes sense too. That being said I am too cheep and/or space limited to buy either the 5 day or marine cooler, but via a friends cooler and bigger boat it does help.
Author:  txvista [ Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
I have a five day cooler that I usually just store the ice bags in and transfer to another cooler when needed. Just used it a couple of weekends ago and have four bags of ice keep semi frozen from 9:30 am till the next morning. It was out in the Texas sun all day with the temp around 101. The 5 day coolers are not that big inside since they have a ton of insulation, but the can hold 3-4 bags of ice.
Author:  Sounder [ Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
if you have a big freezer, stick the cooler in the freezer for a day before you go out. Cant get much colder than that. I bet it would help the ice last longer.
Author:  jf210mpd [ Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
I have not heard of pre-chilling a cooler, but it is very important to make sure the items that you put in the cooler are already cold. If you put hot items in it, it makes your ice work too hard and it will melt quickly. Even 'normal' coolers can keep ice solid for days if you do not put hot items in it. Another tip- block ice will last much longer than the small pieces you get in bags of ice. Use old milk jugs filled with water or freeze water bottles to use as your icing system in the cooler. It will last you the weekend! I have bottles of different sizes for my different size coolers depending on how long I plan to be out.

4th of July coming up :D I plan to be on the lake all weekend!
Author:  christiantrevor [ Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
I freeze bottled waters. They slowly thaw but seem to help keep the cubed ice longer. Works great!
Author:  robbo3 [ Thu Jun 24, 2010 7:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
christiantrevor wrote:
I freeze bottled waters. They slowly thaw but seem to help keep the cubed ice longer. Works great!


+1 or freeze ziplock bags of water. We still use a bag of ice, but also have the larger blocks, which do not melt as fast.

I'd love to see the look on my wife's face if I were to fill the freezer up with the cooler in order to pre-chill it. In fact, I may need to give this a try :mrgreen:
Author:  Jay Bird [ Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
This could be a good one for Mythbusters...

I have been doing this for years. As a mater of fact I have a small cooler chilled in my downstairs beverage fridge.
For larger coolers I keep some gallon plastic jugs of water frozen in the beverage fridge freezer, and will fill the large coolers with them at least a day before use.

My thought process on this anyway is that by pre chilling the cooler and adding pre chilled beverages there is no wasted energy used by the ice or ice packs to chill things down.

So pass me another cold one...
Author:  Y-Guy [ Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
Myth or not there is some truth I've found, but it really depends on your cooler. For a day trip I'm not sure it's worth it.

What I do is to save a few milk jugs, rinse and fill nearly to the top with water. Then place them in the cooler 24 hours before being used. Then day of filled them with ice and other items, if I have the room leave a jug in the center that's still frozen solid.
Author:  nwilliams [ Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
Yes mine neighbours are the same but pre-cooling does not means that it will keep ice cool long lasting because according to me, if you keep the ice on a medium temperature than also it would take the same time to melt, as there is some difference between the pre chilling and cold storage. But the most important tip is to use dry ice in your cooler or else you can also wrap the ice in a newspaper and place it on the food but the process of the melting is not going to vanish this tip is on a temporarily basis.
Author:  JDW250 [ Fri Jun 25, 2010 6:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
All I know is my 5-day cooler must be broke. It sure doesn't hold 5-days worth of beer!

Seriously, I have never tried pre-chilling the cooler. I do, however, insist that everything that goes in the cooler is cold. Starting off with warm contents is like sending your ice on a suicide mission. I am constantly on my kids that whatever drinks they want to take along better be cold before they are packed in the cooler. I tell them, "I don't want any of your warm drinks melting all my ice so I have to drink warm beer at the end of the day!" My brother is notorious for showing up (after the boat is already in the water) with a warm 12-pack (bottles of course, a whole other gripe of mine) and asks if I have room in my cooler. I put my foot down the last time he came out with me. We'll see if he ever tries that again.
Author:  Jim_R [ Fri Jun 25, 2010 8:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
Keeping your cooler out of direct sun can help more than insulating the lid. Pre-chilling the cooler does save ice from melting just by bringing down the temp of the inside of the cooler. The same holds true with items going into the cooler, pre-chill them or even partially freeze them so they stay chilled longer. When freezing plastic bottles filled with water to use as ice, leave about 20% airspace to allow for expansion of ice. Try to fill empty airspace in the cooler with crumpled up newspaper, this adds a little extra insulation and 'focuses' the cold temps on the food items in the cooler. As with a fridge, try to minimize opening and closing of the cooler, practically the only way to get 5 days out of a 5 day cooler is to keep it closed - it might help to have a second smaller cooler for high demand items, allowing the main cooler to stay shut.
Author:  95fxdl [ Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Pre-Chilling Coolers and Other Tips
Remember, there is no cold, only degrees of heat. Heat absorbs cold. Starting out with cold objects makes sense to me. I'll apply that technique tomorrow. Dennis
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